What's so wrong with a do-nothing Congress?

Since nothing that goes wrong can ever be Barack Obama's fault, he has taken this year of inaction to blaming most everything on Congress in general and the Republican House specifically.

He says a radical wing of the opposition party has hijacked the GOP and is causing gridlock in the nation's capital where he was once going to end the harsh partisan divide. Obama says House Republicans refuse to vote on the Senate's immigration bill.

Speaker John Boehner notes that the House has sent more than 200 pieces of legislation to the Senate where it all gets blocked by an irascible old Nevada guy, who does not have a black accent.

The Hill, the authoritative Capitol newspaper, published a recent study showing this Congress is one of the least productive in modern times. And, as usual, Capitol Hill has the low poll approval numbers to prove it.

Not counting ceremonial junk, the 113th Congress has passed only 99 measures of real substance, compared to 144 bills, 105 of them significant, in the last session.

Yes, Obama is in way over his head. He knows nothing of real leadership, pulling people together to decipher what they have in common and starting from there. He has no plan for anything, except his next set of speeches blaming Congress and a deli or ice cream stand visit where he can cut in line and do a photo-op.

So, how did we get to this gridlocked democracy? And is it so bad really, given the lackluster results of what did get passed when the White House and Democrats controlled both chambers?

Democrats seized control of both houses in 2006 in George W. Bush's second midterm elections. Historically, no president in modern times has seen his party gain seats in Congress then. After six years, voters are tired of the same guy in the Oval Office.

No president, that is, except Bill Clinton in 1998, when Republicans in Congress over-played their hand with Monica and impeachment. Voters spanked them and Speaker Newt Gingrich was forced to resign.

Obama's second midterm comes up Nov. 4. Right now, the
GOP seems virtually certain to maintain its comfortable House majority
and must pick up only six seats in the Senate, where more Democrat jobs
are in play.

With ObamaCare, his war on coal, the lethal VA scandal and a
policy paralysis over an illegal immigrant influx,
among other problems, Obama seems to be doing everything he can to hurt
his own
party.

Since nothing that goes wrong can ever be Barack Obama's fault, he has taken this year of inaction to blaming most everything on Congress in general and the Republican House specifically.

He says a radical wing of the opposition party has hijacked the GOP and is causing gridlock in the nation's capital where he was once going to end the harsh partisan divide. Obama says House Republicans refuse to vote on the Senate's immigration bill.

Speaker John Boehner notes that the House has sent more than 200 pieces of legislation to the Senate where it all gets blocked by an irascible old Nevada guy, who does not have a black accent.

The Hill, the authoritative Capitol newspaper, published a recent study showing this Congress is one of the least productive in modern times. And, as usual, Capitol Hill has the low poll approval numbers to prove it.

Not counting ceremonial junk, the 113th Congress has passed only 99 measures of real substance, compared to 144 bills, 105 of them significant, in the last session.

Yes, Obama is in way over his head. He knows nothing of real leadership, pulling people together to decipher what they have in common and starting from there. He has no plan for anything, except his next set of speeches blaming Congress and a deli or ice cream stand visit where he can cut in line and do a photo-op.

So, how did we get to this gridlocked democracy? And is it so bad really, given the lackluster results of what did get passed when the White House and Democrats controlled both chambers?

Democrats seized control of both houses in 2006 in George W. Bush's second midterm elections. Historically, no president in modern times has seen his party gain seats in Congress then. After six years, voters are tired of the same guy in the Oval Office.

No president, that is, except Bill Clinton in 1998, when Republicans in Congress over-played their hand with Monica and impeachment. Voters spanked them and Speaker Newt Gingrich was forced to resign.

Obama's second midterm comes up Nov. 4. Right now, the
GOP seems virtually certain to maintain its comfortable House majority
and must pick up only six seats in the Senate, where more Democrat jobs
are in play.

With ObamaCare, his war on coal, the lethal VA scandal and a
policy paralysis over an illegal immigrant influx,
among other problems, Obama seems to be doing everything he can to hurt
his own
party.

AP

The one thing he's been diligent at is fundraising, even at unseemly times such as after a Fort Hood memorial service or before the bodies of four Americans killed in Benghazi were cold. For someone who professes to dislike fundraising, Obama has attended a record number, 393 since taking office; that's 55% more than Bush at the same point in his presidency.

The Democrat blames Congress for not working with him.

But he's given no evidence of working with Congress, as all presidents have done with that equal branch of government. As in any cooperative human interaction, this requires socializing, phoning, lobbying.

Obama didn't sit down to talk with the GOP's Senate leader until 542 days into his presidency, 539 days longer than Bush took to have Senate Democrat leaders over for coffee and conversation.

Indeed, Obama hasn't even informed Congress in timely fashion of many actions--launching the Libyan war, for instance, or trading five Taliban leaders for one American soldier. And the House is about to go to court charging the constitutional law lecturer with unconstitutionally altering legislation after congressional passage.

This attitude was foretold in the early months of Obama's presidency when Democrats controlled both houses. He needed no consensus then, With little presidential involvement, Obama got what became nearly one trillion dollars of stimulus spending that resulted in little economic stimulus.

Most famously, this president rammed his immense ObamaCare legislation through Capitol Hill with not a single Republican vote.

In the 2010 midterms, voters responded by electing a divided Congress, shaving the Democrat Senate majority and producing a House turnover to the GOP of historic proportions. Afterwards, Obama called it a "shellacking."

It could have been punishment for partisan high-handedness or, more likely, a collective decision by voters in 435 House districts to divide legislative powers
as a cautious counter to Obama. Better to have nothing that an unpredictable new.

When Bill Clinton lost both houses of Congress in 1994, he veered from the left toward the political center, earning himself resounding reelection two years later.

Obama, of course, faces no future election. And his political personna seems unsuited for sudden conversion to cooperation. Even if Democrats manage to cling to tenuous Senate control this fall, the outlook at the moment is that voters are fine with a continuing stalemate for what is now the 919 days remaining in the Obama Era.

Select market data is provided by Interactive Data Corp. Real Time Services. Price and Volume data is delayed 20 minutes unless otherwise noted, is believed accurate but is not warranted or guaranteed by Interactive Data Corp. Real Time Services and is subject to Interactive Data Corp. Real Time Services terms. All times are Eastern United States. *Reflects real-time index prices.